


Hollow Moon

by CrystalQueer



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, byleth is they!, just in general. so much changes, not much to tag for this first chapter. more will be added as chapters are added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22030879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalQueer/pseuds/CrystalQueer
Summary: Vampires were dangerous creatures, and they were especially hated by the religious people of Fódlan for being dark and unholy creatures. Stories about vampires explained that they had been evil, greedy people who were cursed by the Goddess to become awful, blood-sucking creatures as punishment for their crimes. They were burned by sunlight and silver, and could survive only on human blood. Vampires were few and far between now, according to old stories they had been wiped out by Saints, in newer stories they were slayed by Knights (usually followers of Seiros), but nowadays they were taken care of by mercenaries.When word of a possible vampire sighting reached the Archbishop, Rhea, she knew it had to be dealt with immediately.-Byleth, a former mercenary and current professor at the Officers Academy, is sent to investigate rumors of a vampire in a small town. They learn that vampires are not at all like the Church describes them.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	Hollow Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Hello & welcome to Hollow Moon / The Vampire Au, a fanfic that I've been writing for almost four months! I've worked very hard on this, I'm very proud of it, and I am very excited to finally share it!
> 
> I'd like to thank my friend Las, firstly for getting me into fire emblem, and secondly for helping me with this fic! She's basically been my sounding board during the writing of this & for that I owe her a lot. She can be found here on ao3 as [Lasoona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lasoona), she's written a bunch of Really Good FE3H fics and I HIGHLY recommend checking them out, especially her own vampire au fic!
> 
> There's no solid update schedule, but I am hoping to publish a new chapter every other week.
> 
> The fic title is borrowed from [Hollow Moon by The Crane Wives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWIQtdFqUv8)

On a hill above a small town in Fódlan, sat a castle that had been abandoned long ago, though no one could quite remember who built it, or why they had left it empty. It sat there for years, weathered by storms and slowly wearing down. Until one day, someone noticed a light in one of the castle’s windows, and rumors began to spread that perhaps that castle was not as empty as everyone had previously thought.

The rumors spread rapidly, as they were bound to, carried from townspeople to merchants to people in neighboring towns; and as they spread they changed, until the rumor was no longer merely, “the castle is occupied”, but was now, “the castle is occupied by a _vampire_.”

And _that_ only made people panic.

Vampires were dangerous creatures, and they were _especially_ hated by the religious people of Fódlan for being dark and unholy creatures. Stories about vampires explained that they had been evil, greedy people who were cursed by the Goddess to become awful, blood-sucking creatures as punishment for their crimes. They were burned by sunlight and silver, and could survive only on human blood. Vampires were few and far between now, according to old stories they had been wiped out by Saints, in newer stories they were slayed by Knights (usually followers of Seiros), but nowadays they were taken care of by mercenaries.

When word of a possible vampire sighting reached the Archbishop, Rhea, she knew it had to be dealt with immediately, which is why Byleth found themself being summoned to the Archbishop's audience chamber in the middle of class.

“Lady Rhea,” Byleth said in lieu of a proper greeting as they entered the audience chamber. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes. I have a mission for you.” Rhea said. “There has been word that a vampire has settled in a castle close to a town, I want you to go investigate.”

Every month for the past four years, Byleth and their students were given a mission to complete, usually they would take care of bandits causing trouble in towns, or help clean up after nobles rose up against the Church- little things, to give the students experience in a true battlefield, so they weren’t at all surprised by the Archbishop’s words, though her phrasing did confuse them.

“Just me?” They asked, because the Archbishop failed to mention their students.

“Just you.” The Archbishop answered. “The information we have gathered about the vampire has been nothing but rumors, and I do not see any point in sending an entire class to investigate something that may be false. And if there is a vampire.. Well, I have heard that you and Jeralt killed a few during your time as mercenaries, I trust you could take care of one on your own.”

Byleth could count the amount of vampires they and their father had encountered on one hand, and even then Jeralt had done _most_ of the legwork to take care of them. Their experience, while they had more than most people, was still pretty limited. “What if something _other_ than a vampire has taken up residence in the castle? And what of my students?”

“I trust you could handle any threat, but you won’t be going completely alone, I will send a few of the Knights of Seiros to accompany you.” Rhea said. “And Seteth will take over teaching your class until you return.”

"When will I leave?"

"Tomorrow.”

"Tomorrow?"

“If there _is_ a vampire, it must be dealt with swiftly. We cannot waste time with extensive preparation.”

Perhaps that was another reason Rhea did not want Byleth to bring their whole class along. “Understood.”

“Good. Thank you, professor. You may go.”

Byleth dipped in a bow and took their leave. And as they left, they fell into their thoughts. Though it was _understandable_ that Rhea did not want Byleth to bring their whole class along, they still found it odd- after all, such a thing could be a learning opportunity for the students. It wasn’t every day you encountered a vampire, after all, and the kids could probably use the experience dealing with them just in case they ever encountered one after they graduated.

They also thought it was odd that the Archbishop was sending them to investigate a _rumor_ , but that too was understandable- a vampire was a vampire and needed to be dealt with.

They were so caught up in their thoughts that they didn’t notice Flayn until they ran into her. At which point Flayn yelped and Byleth stumbled.

“Oh Flayn! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Byleth asked. Flayn was still standing, which was a good sign. But Seteth would probably want Byleth’s head for daring to bump into her.

“It is fine, professor, I am unhurt.” Flayn replied. “I am glad I ran into you, actually. I wanted to talk.”

“What about?”  
  
“I heard Lady Rhea is sending you to investigate rumors of a vampire; is that true?” She asked.

Byleth wasn’t sure if they were allowed to confirm that. Rhea hadn’t told them to keep it a secret and they had no plans to, but Seteth probably wouldn’t want them telling his little sister about a scary rumor- still, where was the harm in it if Flayn already knew?

“Yes.” They answered finally. “But how did you know? I only just received the mission.”

Flayn ignored the question. Instead, she held out a silver chain from which dangled a charm, Saint Seiros’s symbol, they thought. “I wanted to give you this.” Flayn said. “For protection against the vampire.”

“Oh thank you, Flayn, but I will be fine.” Byleth held up a hand to politely refuse the gift, but Flayn only pushed it into their palm.

“Just take it, professor.” Flayn insisted. “There is nothing wrong with a little extra protection, and if you want, you can return it when you get back.”

Flayn stared at Byleth with wide, imploring eyes, and they found that they just couldn’t say no to her. “All right.” They conceded. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, professor.” She replied with a smile. “Good luck on your trip!”

Byleth bid Flayn farewell and returned to their classroom where all of their students still waited. They filled them in on the mission, sharing with them what they knew and when they would be leaving; a few students were disappointed that they couldn’t come along. Hilda hardly hid her excitement.

They finished their lessons for the day, and spent the rest of it completing various activities around the monastery- mostly helping their students with their studies, or their chores. And when evening finally fell Byleth had dinner and finally retired to their quarters to pack for their trip. They wrote a vague lesson plan for Seteth (they didn’t _have_ a lesson plan, they just knew what their students liked to be taught) and finally they went to bed.

They needed their rest. They had a long journey ahead of them tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter is a bit slow but I promise things pick up pretty quickly! Like,,, next chapter, quickly. It's fun! It's very fun :3
> 
> Big thank you to my friends Las, Nova, and Nemui for proofreading this!! <3
> 
> Don't Forget To Like, Subscribe, And Leave A Comment down below !!! Thank you for reading!!!


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